Welcome Penn Rye Melder!

Most of you blog readers have already seen an email, text or Facebook post, so it's overdue that I finally introduce all of you to Penn Rye Melder on the blog.  


Penn Rye Melder was born at 6:26am on 6/26/2012.  He weighed 7 lbs., 6 oz. and was 20 and 1/2 inches long.  It was a super fast delivery.  I was up in the night with contractions and back pain, but not really sure if it was the real thing, eventually I woke up Doug at 4:40am and he quickly came to and was convinced it was labor and rushed me to get out the door.  I'm never sure what is going on, so I tried to hang back, but thankfully he was insistent that we make our exit as quickly as possible.  It's a good thing!  We walked the few blocks to the hospital which I think just made the labor progress if not speed up.  We were met in the ER by the awesome team of nurses that took care of us in Labor & Delivery.  They already were aware that I was at least 5 cm from my appointment that morning and that my previous labors had been quick.  We all walked up to the L&D and they wasted no time in getting me hooked up to monitors and checked out.  At that point I was 6cm.  After a few more contractions they checked again and I was 9cm.  They called the doctor, when he got in I was 10cm and it was time to push.  Crazy how fast it went.  It was the most manageable labor I've had yet.  Don't get me wrong, it hurt, but I wasn't quite yet feeling like I was going to die.  I've preferred in the past and with this labor to not use pain drugs.  I was so thankful that the labor was very smooth and I was able to go that route again.  And this time, the staff, nurses and the doctor from my practice were more understanding and encouraging then I've experienced in the past, so that was a huge praise!  Doug was a great support in that he rubbed my back and managed not to pass out when things really got going.  After 25 minutes approximately of pushing, baby Melder was out and we found out that yes, indeed, we were to carry on the Melder tradition for this generation of having 3 boys!


And the meaning of the name you ask?
Penn: a boy's name of German origin meaning "commander"
Rye: the name of the town where Doug and I got married in NH
If you don't know already, Koen and Tavin are both German names as well (the Melder family is German, Doug is 3rd generation).  Koen means "priest" or "wise advisor" and Tavin comes from the name Gustav which means "royalty" or "king."  So, now we have a Priest, a King and a Commander.  May God truly raise them up to be amazing leaders in His Kingdom!


Now what you've all been waiting for...pictures!!  Enjoy...